"How little you understand the Eldar. You have stepped into our snare. Do not expect to escape it alive."

3/2/13

40k Throwback: Eldar Army Lists Part 1: Jetbikes

As I may have mentioned before I began playing Eldar in third edition. At the time my friends and I decided to get into this 40k game some people were playing and we each chose an army to get into. This was a regular habit for us, we get into a new game, it stays interesting for a little bit, then we moved on to something else leaving the old game in the dust. Knowing that was our habit and with the price of 40k models, I didn't really feel too interested in this game. It was expensive and I wasn't really interested in committing the money to something we'd be giving up in a month or two. To top it off one of my friends had already chosen the army that appealed to me the most, the Tau. (I was a big Gundam fan, but more on that later). My other friend started an Ork army and so I was left to choose my army. Most of the armies of the Imperium didn't appeal to me. I've never been a fan of the gothic style and cybernetic implant craziness that 3rd edition artwork threw at us. I also wasn't too much a fan of the Eldar as I was erroneously under the impression that they were a bunch of coneheads, like the Saturday Night Live skit/movie. Fortunately, my friend playing Orks, who was familiar with the game since 2nd edition, convinced me to try them out. I relented, picking up a Falcon as my first model because if anything I could have this really cool tank on my shelves when this game didn't pan out. Now here we are nearly ten years later and I'm the only one of my friends that plays. In addition I've stayed with the Eldar, who after I learned about, I became totally enamored. As a big time D&D/Pathfinder player (D&D 3.0 at the time) I'm known for playing Elves who are generally roguish or wizardly. After learning more about Eldar I was sold on the notion that I could continue that same sort of style IN SPACE!

As I've been a collector of Eldar since 2003 I've accumulated quite the collection of models. Sadly, my original 3rd edition codex decayed with age and use and I was left without it, until my trip to Cleveland last year. Then at this years Adepticon Team Primer in Toledo, I was able to score the old Craftworld Eldar expansion codex and I figured with the two books in hand I would take a trip down memory lane and recreate some of my army lists as they once had been.

The Ground Rules
1) The assumption is that the list is being prepared for the 6th Edition Rules Set
2) The Current Eldar FAQ is invalid for the 3rd Edition rules as it pertains only to the 4th Edition Codex
3) I will only put units on the list for which I have models (i.e. I only have 5 warlocks on jetbikes so only 5 will appear in my list)

Eldar Jetbike List
There are some interesting differences between these two lists. First, The cost of jetbikes in 3rd edition were so expensive that I had to cut a Fire Prism just to fit the rest. Second, changes in how Warlocks as a squad worked forced me to cut them from the Guardian squads, in addition I couldn't field them with a heavy weapons platform and have them in a Wave Serpent so I just took out the heavy weapons platforms. Finally, basic differences in how wargear and equipment function changes the armies capabilities drastically. Runes of Warding for example, only have a range of 6" and make the enemy psyker roll 3D6 and discard the lowest roll. At any rate, here's the two lists:

Eldar Codex 3rd Edition

Eldar Codex 4th
Edition

Unit/Upgrade

Amount

Unit/Upgrade

Amount

Farseer

1

Farseer

1

Jetbike

1

Jetbike

1

Ghosthelm

1

Singing Spear

1

Shuriken Pistol

1

Spirit Stones

1

Singing Spear

1

Runes of Warding

1

Runes of Warding

1

Runes of Witnessing

1

Runes of Witnessing

1

Doom

1

Spirit Stones

1

Fortune

1

Fortune

1

Warlocks

5

Guide

1

Jetbikes

5

Farseer

1

Singing Spear

2

Jetbike

1

Destructor

5

Ghosthelm

1

Embolden

0

Shuriken Pistol

1

Enhance

0

Witchblade

1

Guardian Jetbike Squad

9

Runes of Warding

1

Shuriken Cannon

3

Rune of Witnessing

1

Guardian Jetbike Squad

9

Mind War

1

Shuriken Cannon

3

Warlocks

4

Fire Prism

1

Jetbikes

4

Fire Prism

1

Destructor

4

Vyper Squadron

2

Singing Spears

2

Brightlance

2

Witchblades

2

Shuriken Cannon Upgrade

0

Shuriken Pistol

4

Guardian Squadron

10

Guardian Jetbike Squad

9

Scatter Laser

1

Shuriken Cannon

3

Warlock

1

Guardian Jetbike Squad

9

Embolden

1

Shuriken Cannon

3

Guardian Squadron

10

Vyper Squadron

2

Scatter Laser

1

Brightlance

2

Warlock

1

Fire Prism

1

Embolden

1

Guardian Squadron

10

Wave Serpent

1

Wave Serpent

1

Twin-Linked Starcannon

1

Twin-linked Starcannons

1

Wave Serpent

1

Guardian Squadron

10

Twin-Linked Starcannon

1

Wave Serpent

1

Farseer

1

Twin-linked Starcannons

1

Jetbike

1

Spirit Stones

1

Runes of Warding

1

Runes of Witnessing

1

Singing Spear

1

Psychic Power

3

Grand Total

1999

Grand Total

1998

As you can see, there was a push for more models on the table, even back in 4th Edition. You will note that I have the Farseers listed with Ghosthelms and Witchblades, that's because you had to purchase those. In addition, Doom didn't exist as a psychic power so I just figured I'd give both farseers the full spread of powers between the two of them. I'd say I'd be interested to see this list on the table, but honestly it's just a weaker version of my current list with less models. Hopefully, if the rumors are true, I can , by the end of the year add a 6th edition list next to these and see how they all turn out.

At any rate, it appears this post has become a bit long winded, so I'll likely make a second or third one later depending on how many lists I want to play around with.